Oklahoma City Thunder qualified for the playoffs with its latest victory. Their goal now is to play at a top level when the mail season starts next month.
Thunder (54-12) will visit Detroit Pistons on Saturday after defeating Boston on the defending master’s home floor, 118-112, on Wednesday.
Oklahoma City has a 12-game management in the conference but does not want any slip in the coming weeks.
“We have a lot to get better at,” said star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “Playing the last match of the season at the end of June is a long, long way away. I hope we do not play our championship basket (now). I hope we will – how many months is it? Three. I suppose we have three months to get better now. I hope we get better and play better basketball than we are now.”
It would be difficult for Gilgeous-Alexander to do much more. The best candidate for the league’s most valuable player award had 34 points, seven assists and five returns in 39 minutes against Celtics. He is an average of 32.8 points, 6.2 assists and 5.1 returns while he shoots 52.5 percent from the field.
Defeating Boston twice this season had special significance.
“It’s huge,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “Because (Celtics has) done it, because they have done what we try to do, the games against them will always be raised. They will always be a little more exciting. They achieved what we are trying to achieve, and there is no better test in the NBA.
“You play at the end of June, and the other team had won at the end of June. So playing against them is always fun, always a really big challenge and something we get to test ourselves against them. I suppose we have approved two tests so far.”
The next test comes against the very improved pistons (37-30), which kicked after losing at home against the Lotteribunder Washington 129-125 on Thursday. Detroit had defeated the magicians by 20 points two nights earlier.
“We gave up 69 points during the first half (and gave up) rear -door arrangements after a rear -door arrangement,” said the Detroit coach JB Bickerstaff. “We did not come back in the transition. I think they had 20 quick break points during the first half. We allowed them to think they could. When you give some NBA team faith, on a given night someone can win.”
According to the Backup Center Isaiah Stewart, the pistons came into the game to over -secure.
“From the beginning of the game we didn’t take this matchup so seriously,” he said. “Of course you can look at a team, look at their record. It’s a position we were last year. We didn’t play Detroit Basket (Thursday). We allowed them to stay in the game, gave them confidence and it hurt us. It hurt us and we stopped losing.”
The game within the game on Saturday will include a matchup between Gilgeous-Alexander and Detroit All-Star Guard Cade Cunningham. He is an average of 31.7 points and 8.2 assists in the last six games, including a 38-point, 10-assist against Washington.
Thunder is likely to be without all-Star forward Jalen Williams. He missed the Celtics -Showdown with a hip stem.
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